BSJ Game Report: Raiders 20, Patriots 13 - Slow start for Mike Vrabel era as NE outplayed in all three phases

Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ loss to the Raiders in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

HEADLINES

Drake Maye easily outplayed by Geno Smith: Considering the reputation of both defenses coming into this one, I figured we would see a lot of yards, especially through the air. Well, one team did that as Geno Smith completed 24 of 34 passes for 362 yards as he kept coming up with big plays against the Patriots' defense.

Smith actually ended up with 10 pass plays over 20 yards, and the top five all came in the second half.

Conversely, the Patriots only managed three, and they were all in the first half.

Maye actually ended up with decent stats - 30 of 46 for 287 yards, 1 TD, and an interception. But that doesn't tell the tale. He looked jittery all day long and missed a handful of easy passes that could have helped drives sustain. He also seemed to leave the pocket too early at times, and he only gained 11 yards on his 4 carries. 

"Without looking at the tape, I thought there were some good positive plays and really good command of what we were doing, and then there were times where maybe we or he missed somebody, and we’ll have to see," Vrabel said. "It’s a challenge playing quarterback in this league. We’ve got to help him out. We have to be more balanced. We have to use our run actions and be able to run the football. It’s hard to turn it into a drop-back passing game in this league. That’s just the facts. When they’re up two scores and they’re in their 3rd down package, we just don’t want to ever live in that world.

"We all can be better, whether that’s me, the coaching staff, Drake, Will [Campbell] and everybody that you asked about, that’s the attitude that we’re going to take. That’s the belief that we’re going to take. We’re disappointed, but we can’t sit there and hold on to it too long. We’ve got to go on the road and we’ve got to play a division opponent, and we’ve got to embrace moving on. I think that’s what we’re going to try to do."

Defense was boom or bust: You're not going to win many games giving up 10 pass plays over 20 yards, but the Patriots did have a good pass rush most of the game (PFF has them for 21 total QB pressures), including 4 sacks (2.5 by Harold Landry). Milton Williams had six pressures, Landry 5 and Robert Spillane was next with 4. The Patriots produced a turnover, when Smith threw late to Brock Bowers (injured for most of the second half) and Carlton Davis tipped it to Jaylinn Hawkins.

PFF has Christian Ellis allowing 7 catches on 7 targets for 73 yards. Hawkins allowed 3 of 3 for 88 yards, including an easy TD to Tre Tucker, and a 38-yarder to Bowers.

"I would say just us and the details," Hawkins said of the explosive plays. "At the end of the day, no matter what call, no matter what we’re in, that’s on us. That’s on us; that’s on us. I take full blame, my dawgs take full blame, that’s on us. So, we’ll be better. We’ll come back to work tomorrow, watch the tape, flush it and then move forward.”

Vrabel punts on 4th and 10 with 4:53 left: Patriots trailed the Raiders by 10 and had the ball near midfield and were going for it on 4th and 5 before Will Campbell had his second false start. Instead of going for it on 4th and 10, Vrabel elected to punt it with all three timeouts and the two-minute warning. Smith completed a 36-yard pass on 3rd and 20 over Carlton Davis to pretty much ice the game after that. Bryce Baringer hit a 21-yard punt on 4th and 10.

"I made a decision on 4th-and-10 with close to five minutes to punt and would like a better punt, and we had them stopped, and that was the plan, and that didn’t work," Vrabel said. "Then they hit one, and we just didn’t have enough time there at the end to do anything. That was the decision that I thought was best for us at the time, and that didn’t work out. But situationally we’ll have to continue to improve. We moved the ball. We made the kick. We tried the onside. You just can’t get down two scores late in the game."

TURNING POINT

Maye's interception to end the first drive after halftime. The Patriots led 10-7 at the break and decided to get aggressive with the pass after halftime (neither run game did anything - Patriots averaged 3.3 YPC, Raiders 2.3 - and it appeared to be working. 

Maye to TreVeyon Henderson for 6
Maye to Kayshon Boutte for 10
Maye to Rhamondre Stevenson for 7
Maye to Stefon Diggs for 10
Maye scramble for 3 near midfield

And then the interception happened.

If the Patriots go down and score a touchdown, the game is totally on their terms. Instead, the Raiders took the turnover, scored a go-ahead touchdown, and the Patriots had three-and-outs on the next two drives.

SECOND GUESS

Aside from the punt, how about running a harder training camp? Which team looked ready to go in this one, the Raiders or the Patriots? Which team played better in the second half and had better legs? How about the Patriots from last year under Jerod Mayo in the opening win against the Bengals?

Never saw the Patriots use the hill once at practice all summer. Maybe they might want to mix that in.

THREE UP

DE Harold Landry: He had 2.5 sacks and five total pressures on 29 pass rushes.

WR Kayshon Boutte: Had 6 catches for 103 yards on eight targets as the comeback route with Maye was on point.

DT Milton Williams: Had 6 pressures on 31 pass rushes.

FIVE DOWN

WR Demario Douglas: The top slot player can't have 2 catches for -2 yards on seven targets.

QB Drake Maye: If this team is going to do anything this year, he has to play a lot consistently and not miss so many easy throws.

S Jaylinn Hawkins: Gave up a couple of huge plays and had a big personal foul penalty to set up a touchdown.

LG Jared Wilson: Will Campbell had two false start penalties, but Wilson allowed five pressures, and had a few big mental mistakes. 

Special teams: They were awful. Andy Borregales missed from 40 yards on his first attempt. Bryce Baringer had two terrible punts where the Patriots could have pinned them deep. I think there were at least penalties on special teams (Jack Gibbens, Elijah Ponder). Just not nearly good enough.

INJURIES

WR Kayshon Boutte: Left after a big hit but returned to the game.

TOP PLAYS

THREE TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

I just don't think the Patriots were primed and ready for this one: I'm sure Vrabel had his reasons for how he conducted camp and practices, and not using the hill, and I'm guessing it has something to do with playing the long game so the guys are ready to play 17 games in 18 weeks with a late bye. But the fact of the matter is, Vrabel has now lost his last four season openers. That's not coincidence. The Raiders looked much more ready to go the distance in this one. Maybe Vrabel is like Belichick in that he's using this as an extension of the preseason, but this team can't waste many winnable games, and this one was very winnable.

Drake Maye needs to be better: I'm sure there will be things to quibble with on Josh McDaniels' play calling and approach, but a lot of this is on Maye too. This looked like the same guy we saw in the Washington and Minnesota preseason games. It's just very sloppy, and I think a lot of it has to do with his sort of laid-back approach to everything, that he'll just pull a play out of his rear end at some point. His footwork was really sloppy and he was pretty jittery in this one. For this team to do anything, Maye is going to have to play a lot better.